Embodiments of the invention described in this specification relate generally to neural tissue stimulation and control, and more particularly, to a system and method of providing patient-initiated automatic control of neural tissues.
Brain injuries can arise from any number of events or situations, such as stroke or impact-related traumatic brain injuries. People who suffer from brain injuries typically are treated at medical facilities which limit ongoing damage to brain tissue. However, such brain injured people (hereinafter referred to as “patients”) are often left with traumatic brain injuries that limit the patient's ability to control motor functions of body parts (e.g., limbs, fingers, etc.) associated with neural tissue in the damaged brain area.
While various existing direct brain stimulation methods are capable of stimulating the brain with electrical impulses (e.g., using implanted electrodes) to treat a variety of brain conditions (e.g., major depressive disorder, Parkinson's disease, strokes, essential tremors, tremors arising from multiple sclerosis, etc.), there are no existing systems or methods, to date, which provide a patient-initiated locus of control as a work-around to restore body motor functions which, until the occurrence of brain injury, were controlled by the damaged neural areas of the brain.
Conventional system and traditional methods of direct brain stimulation generally involve surgically implanting electrodes within the brain to then externally operate the electrodes (e.g., by applying a current to the electrode using an insulated conductor) to deliver electrical impulses capable of counteracting certain electrical activities in the brain, and in particular the abnormal activity believed to cause undesirable conditions and symptoms, such as those brain conditions identified above. Noninvasive techniques such as transcranial magnetic and direct current stimulation have been developed but provide transient and little if any long term value.
Some existing conventional systems monitor brain activity for desired activity and stimulate the pleasure centers to try to induce or shape further increases in brain activity in coma patients.
Some existing methods and conventional systems use adaptive brain stimulation, which is based upon three components: stimulation, comparison of a present state with a reference state, and subsequent stimulation that is contingent upon the results of the comparison. Still another conventional technique seeks to maintain stasis of base brain frequencies to prevent seizures by monitoring activity and applying stimulating current to maintain normal activity levels. However, the existing systems and methods neither involve voluntary patient control nor define control by comparing voluntary patient neural output to previously recorded voluntary motor neural activity to trigger processor control and initiate a sequence of stimulation that would cause previously damaged areas to regain function.
However, all of the existing systems and methods rely on an external source or processor control to initiate stimulation and fail to provide for the initiation of the stimulation signal that comes from a patient-determined voluntary motor action. Thus, among the existing methods, none allow for internal initiation which will move to repair and create new connections. As such, many patients have no way to regain any patient-initiated functional control from losses suffered by their brain injuries.
Therefore, what is needed is a way to provide patient-initiated automatic control of neural tissues.